Sunday, October 19, 2014

8582 Clerk Lawford Harold Beal, RAF

Lawford Beal first appears in Chailey Parish Magazine in March 1916 as simply, Beal. The following month this information is upgraded to include his initials and the fact that he is an Air Mechanic with the Royal Naval Air Service. In May 1916, this information is further augmented to include the fact that he is situated in England. L H Beal’s last appearance in Chailey Parish Magazine is in November 1917 which simply lists Beal, LH, AM, RNAS.

Thankfully, Lawford's service record survives in AIR 79 and from this we can see that he was born in Southminster, Essex and joined the Royal Flying Corps on 13th September 1915. His civilian trade is noted as valet and so presumably he was serving one of the wealthy families in Chailey. He was Air Mechanic 2nd Class when he enlisted and he finished the war as a Grade 1 Clerk.

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